CHICAGO — After an upset of Purdue in the first round of the Big Ten tournament, Nebraska coach Tim Miles talked about how well his team had taken care of the basketball all season.

Still on a high from what he called a “program win,” he probably didn’t consider he was tempting fate. But fate did a 180-degree turn on him last night in the form of an Ohio State defense that completely unraveled Nebraska in a 71-50 victory in a tournament quarterfinal in the United Center.

Ohio State (24-7), the No. 2 seed, had 10 steals and scored 21 points off Nebraska turnovers to advance to a semifinal today against No. 3 Michigan State.

“That defensive pressure made all the difference,” Miles said.

The Buckeyes made amends for a lazy start by doing what they had done previously in a winning streak that has reached a season-high six games — unleash Shannon Scott and Aaron Craft in tandem after an opponent had become accustomed to one pace of play.

After Scott entered the game 6:45 in, he and Craft scored all the points and each had an assist and steal in a 10-0 run that gave Ohio State the lead for good after it trailed by nine points.

“The impact on the game that Shannon has is unreal,” said Sam Thompson, who scored a career-high 19 points in his hometown to lead the Buckeyes. “When he’s in the game with Craft, it’s a nightmare.”

Deshaun Thomas also finished with 19 points after being yanked from the game by coach Thad Matta after Nebraska scored on four of its first five possessions. The Cornhuskers built a 15-6 lead before the Buckeyes started to turn things around.

“After that first four minutes where they kind of were shooting any shot they wanted and knocking a lot of shots down, we just wanted to go back to playing Ohio State defense,” said Craft, who also had eight assists. “That’s when we’re at our best. When we can keep guys in front of us and make them make more decisions than they’re used to, I think that’s when guys tend to throw bad passes and things like that.”

The Buckeyes led by five points at halftime and quickly put themselves out of reach in the second half by forcing turnovers on eight of Nebraska’s first 13 possessions. The Buckeyes scored off six of the turnovers to increase their lead to 54-28 with 12:01 left.

LaQuinton Ross made three-pointers on three straight possessions during the 26-5 run.

Matta said, “That was one of the things we talked about at halftime, trying to start the second half with as much as we have, because … we told our guys, ‘They’ve got to come at you. It’s all on the line for them. Let’s answer the call.’ ”

Ohio State has 50 steals and 115 points off turnovers in its winning streak, and Scott’s increased playing time has helped ignite the carnage on opponents.

“I try to be all over the place now,” Scott said. “I’m not really trying to guard my man, I’m trying to guard all five at the same time but still do the things the team needs me to do. I’m not trying to be just another guy. I’m trying to be an impact player now.”

Given the Buckeyes’ penchant for starting too many games slowly this season, Matta was asked why he doesn’t start Scott alongside Craft.

“I love having something coming in that I don’t want to say is game-changing, but is a different look, a different pace, a different tempo,” Matta said. “They were everywhere. Their quickness, their strength and their speed is good for us in terms of creating havoc.”